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Spiced Apple Muffins

These delicious Spiced Apple Muffins are perfect for school lunches or a with a cup of coffee for a warm and cozy morning tea. These apple muffins are humming with cinnamon and mixed spice. They are good for you too and are packed with fibre and made with whole wheat flour and oats.

There is something so comforting about the flavours of apple and spices together. And these Spiced Apple Muffins are just that. Comforting. I love the little pops of flavour from the apple and they have a great crumb but are soft and moist inside. 

These apple muffins are packed with fibre too. Made with whole wheat flour and oats they are a deliciously filling snack. They are also lower in added sugars but they still taste perfectly sweet.

bowl of apple muffins

Ingredients and Substitutions

This recipe uses readily available ingredients and I have noted some substitutions. You will find the quantity information in the recipe card.

  • Sour Cream – adds creaminess and moisture to baking. You could also use Greek or natural yogurt or ricotta.
  • Olive Oil – I use a low flavoured extra virgin olive oil in these Spiced Apple Muffins. You can use any low flavoured oil suitable for baking. You could also use melted butter
  • Eggs – these add protein to this recipe and structure to the muffins. I use large eggs as standard in my recipes.
  • Milk – adds creaminess and fluffiness in baking.
  • Maple Syrup – I use pure maple syrup as opposed to flavoured maple syrup. I enjoy the depth and caramel-like flavour of maple syrup in baking.
  • Brown Sugar – adds a softer texture than using white sugar. You could omit but the muffins will not be overly sweet. You could substitute with more maple syrup (around 1/2 cup in total) but I do really like these apple muffins with the brown sugar and recommend adding it.
  • Vanilla Extract – I use a quality extract as opposed to essence in my recipes. You can get this from most supermarkets. 
  • Cinnamon – adds warmth and spice to these Spiced Apple Muffins.
  • Mixed Spice – this is a blended spice of cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. You can substitute with Pumpkin Pie Spice if you are reading from the US. This is commonly called Pudding Spice in the UK. You can also add more cinnamon and nutmeg instead.
  • Plain wholemeal flour – you could use plain flour if you don’t have wholemeal flour. If you prefer to use self raising wholemeal flour omit the baking powder and baking soda. Wholemeal flour is also known as whole wheat flour.
  • Rolled oats – adding more fibre and substance to these Spiced Apple Muffins.
  • Baking powder –  helps with texture and leavening. 
  • Baking soda – helps with texture and leavening.
  • Apples – peeled, cored and diced. Avoid using cooking apples or tarter varieties of apples for this recipe and use a sweet variety. Also make sure you finely dice the apples. You could grate the apples if you prefer but I like the larger pops of flavour of diced apples.

How to make Spiced Apple Muffins

Preheat your oven to 200c and grease and line a muffin tray. In a large bowl add in the wet ingredients and the brown sugar and whisk thoroughly to combine. Then add in the dry ingredients and the finely diced apple.

collage showing ingredients for spiced apple muffins.

Gently fold the mixture until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin.

picture of wet and dry ingredients being combined.

Reduce the heat 180c then immediately place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for around 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Once baked, remove from the oven and stand for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

How to Freeze Muffins

Muffins are such an easy lunchbox filler and so adaptable. And importantly, they freeze incredibly well. So they are perfect for bulk baking and popping away for school lunches all term long. 

Once the muffins are cooled completely, put them into a container or reusable ziplock bag. The muffins will freeze well for 2-3 months. To defrost take the muffin out of the freezer the night before and defrost in the fridge or you can defrost in the microwave.  

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Spiced Apple Muffins

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  • Author: Goodie Goodie Lunchbox - Bernadette
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 18 muffins 1x
  • Category: Muffins
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Western

Description

These delicious Spiced Apple Muffins are perfect for school lunches or a with a cup of coffee for a warm and cozy morning tea. These apple muffins are humming with cinnamon and mixed spice. They are good for you too and are packed with fibre and made with whole wheat flour and oats.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 cup (180ml) sour cream
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup (70g) brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups (310g) wholemeal flour
  • 3/4 cup (80g) rolled oats, plus extra for topping
  • 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 large apples (around 300g), peeled cored and finely diced

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 200c (fan forced) and grease and line your muffin tin.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and the brown sugar until well combined.
  3. Add in the dry ingredients and the apples and carefully stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix the batter.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin and top with more rolled oats if desired.
  5. Reduce the oven heat to 180c (fan forced) and bake for around 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
  6. When baked, stand for 5 minutes before cooling on a wire baking rack.

Notes

Preheating the oven to a higher heat of 200c then reducing the oven temperature to 180c will result in muffins with a great crumb while retaining a delicious moist and soft inside.

I hope that you love these Spiced Apple Muffins as much as we do! I love to see you baking my recipes so if you try them make sure to take a picture and share with my on Instagram or Facebook

Happy baking, 

Bernadette 

 

12 Comments

  1. Adrian Onvlee

    I don’t mind a bit a baking and I was trying to find recipes for my 3 boys to get back to eating healthier, this is an awesome recipe and my wife loved them too!! Thankyou for the recipes and tips!!






  2. The most delicious muffins I have ever made. Great flavours and perfectly moist and fluffy. The family loved them.
    Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!






  3. What can I sub the sour cream for to make these dairy free? I use oat milk, and I just increase the oat milk in this recipe? TIA

    • Bernadette

      You could try coconut yogurt or increase the oat milk as you suggested but I have not tested this variation. Bernadette x

  4. I made this recipe this evening for my son’s lunchbox. They turned out great! I didn’t have sour cream at the time so I substituted with Greek yogurt and it turned out fine. Thank you for sharing this recipe.






  5. Made these today awesome super fluffy I love with these






  6. These were super yummy ! Moist, soft and fluffy, with little bursts of apple. I have made several times now, and the recipe is very adaptable (e.g. honey as a substitute for maple syrup, and ricotta or Greek yoghurt as a substitute for sour cream). Is on high rotation in our house!






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